Three Vaguely Interesting Things About Obama’s New Chief of Staff

President Obama will announce a second-term reshuffling at the White House today, most notably naming deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough his new chief of staff. McDonough will replace Jack Lew, whom Obama nominated as Treasury Secretary. While most Americans couldn’t pick any of these people out on the street, they are the ones who make the executive branch of our government run. The Atlantic has a nice primer on McDonough filled with the expected stuff (great guy, very hardworking), but a few things in particular stuckout.

1. That’s him up there, next to Hillary Clinton, during the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound. Only very important people got a seat at thetable.

2. He’s a “devout” Catholic and Midwesterner, having attended Saint John’s University in Minnesota, where he played on the footballteam.